Drowning in a sea of red in Iowa

Politically I am feeling very lonely in Iowa, and it isn’t because of Republican/Democrat divisions. It is because of the lack of common sense and compassion from our governor and Legislature. As a lifelong Republican, I can no longer see that point of view.

Some years back, we were having an open political discussion in our office when one of my employees asked me how long I had been a Democrat. The question surprised me because I was a registered Republican. Until that point, I didn’t realize how the party had changed and left me out. The more I thought about it, the more I realized my views were more Democrat than Republican, but I think a lot of us are in that same boat as state legislatures turn their backs on average and struggling citizens and people who are different.

I don’t know their end-goal, but it is certainly not for a woman’s right to choose, or to make life better for average people and not protecting our citizens and kids from dangerous people with weapons of war. I can’t imagine even Republicans want to live in a country this heartless or dangerous.

There is a way out of this madness, and it starts with education.

Taking money away from public schools and giving it to private schools that have mixed education and religion is not how the Constitution is supposed to work. Wasn’t our country founded on freedom of religion and freedom from religion? By banning books and leaving out the history that doesn’t comport with our noble thoughts of what great people we are, leaves the likelihood that we will again repeat this part of history because we don’t know how it failed our forefathers.

Besides, this private school debacle has led to a much higher dollar cost than our governor led us to believe. It will cause schools to deteriorate, and a brain drain of teachers. Illinois stands ready to take our excellent underpaid teachers. Of course, we can replace them with unqualified under-educated people who are willing to work for less. But why would we expect a better outcome than using trained and educated professionals?

It is claimed that Napoleon would execute generals that brought him problems without solutions. I don’t know if that is true, but to be safe, I would recommend the following solutions:

1. Repeal Citizens United and get big money out of politics. There is no way we the people can compete with billionaires whose agenda is, in many cases, self-serving at the expense of regular citizens. And we would have a better idea of which politicians are being bought and for how much.

2. Our state legislatures must pass laws that would make weapons and magazines intended to kill people, illegal. Gun registration and red flag laws would be enacted.

3. Keep government out of the church and the church out of the government. Once churches start to influence policies and act uncharitable, they should lose their tax exemption like any other business.

4. Make education our number one priority. Other countries that prioritize education tend to be safer and happier.

These are not Democrat or Republican views; they are common sense ideas. Our state Legislature is mentioned as one of the most egregious when considering LGBT rights and not wanting to take care of those who need help. I am embarrassed that our legislators are not more interested in representing all of us and not just the rich and privileged.

I am not sure what happened to civility here, but I remain hopeful that common sense will prevail, and Iowa can again be the home of the best educated people in the country.

John Lehnst lives in Williamsburg.